Akron Public Library

Brother Cadfael is confounded when his own potion is used to kill his former love's new husband Gervase Bonel is a guest of Shrewsbury Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul when he suddenly takes ill. Luckily, the abbey boasts the services of the clever and kindly Brother Cadfael, a skilled herbalist. Cadfael hurries to the man's bedside, only to be confronted with two surprises: In Master Bonel's wife, the good monk recognizes Richildis, whom he loved...

A respite in the 12th-century struggle for the English throne between King Stephen and Empress Maud lends Brother Cadfael the opportunity to accompany a friend to Wales on a diplomatic venture. But they soon find themselves involved in another royal feud.

Brother Cadfael becomes involved in a mystery when the corpse of a young woman is plowed up in a potter's field in 1143.

Brother Cadfael in captured by Danish mercenaries when his caught up in a disagreement between two Welsh princes in the summer of 1144.